The present disclosure relates to a maintenance unit for cleaning a recording head which ejects ink on a recording medium such as a sheet. The present disclosure relates to an ink-jet recording apparatus provided with a maintenance unit.
Recording apparatuses include, for example, facsimile machines, copiers, and printers. Ink-jet recording apparatuses, which form images by ejecting ink, can form high-definition images. Ink-jet recording apparatuses are widely used.
In conventional ink-jet recording apparatuses, recovery operation is usually performed. Recovery operation is an operation in which thickened ink in an ink ejection opening of a recording head is forcibly pushed out and the pushed-out ink is wiped off by a wiper. In some known ink-jet recording apparatuses, recovery operation of the recording head is performed using a maintenance unit.
The maintenance unit, for example, includes a wiper, a wiper carriage, and a collection tray. The wiper wipes off ink pushed out forcibly. The wiper carriage, while holding the wiper, moves along the wiping direction. The collection tray is arranged under the wiper and collects ink wiped off by the wiper. Some wiper carriages are provided with a holding plate for holding the wiper.
In a conventional maintenance unit, ink fallen from an ink ejection face can attach to the holding plate. When a large amount of ink is pushed out of the ink ejection face, ink tends to attach to the holding plate. The ink attached to the holding plate can coagulate on the holding plate. The ink attached to the holding plate can flow to an end part of the wiper carriage to affect the reciprocating movement of the wiper carriage. However, if an opening portion (an opening for guiding ink to the collection tray) in the holding plate is made larger for preventing ink from attaching to the holding plate, the strength of the holding plate is degraded.